Do You Know Where Your Heart Is?
by NeverSayNever95
Summary: "James, you ass-hat, how many times do I have to tell you to stay out of the bathroom when...I'm...you're not James." "Neither are you."
1. Chapter 1

**I'm pretty sure there are a million of these kinds of stories out there, but this idea's been floating around my head for months. Hope you enjoy it!**

**Sirius' POV**

Sooo…James is a git.

Right, now that we've established that, let me explain why.

0o0

"Hey, Mrs. P," I said casually as I walked through the side door of the Potters' house into the kitchen, "James here?"

"What? Oh, yes dear, I think he's upstairs somewhere," she responded, waving her hands vaguely. Suddenly we both heard loud music that I didn't recognize blasting from upstairs. **(Think "Carry On My Wayward Son") **_Odd,_ I thought, _I didn't think James liked muggle music. _

"Thanks."

As I walked away I could hear Mrs. Potter muttering, "Ugh…can't hear myself think…damn muggle music…told…stop listening to that rubbish at home…"

I shook my head, smiling slightly, and followed the loud rock music to…wait, the bathroom? _Whatever. Now I can totally scare the shit out of him._

But when I opened the door to the bathroom, it wasn't my best mate I found in the shower. No, oddly enough it was a girl. At first I thought it was Evans, and I was about to go running into James room begging for details when I realized that instead of Lily's curly red mane, this girl had straight black hair.

_What the hell? _Then, as it sank in that this wasn't Prongsie's beloved, I began to look at more than her hair. She was skinny, but not anorexic-looking, (which was good, 'cause who wants a girl that looks like they're gonna break if you hold 'em too tight) and was probably only a little shorter than me. Her back was to me, so I couldn't tell what her face looked like, but if she was in James' shower, she must be hot.

She must have sensed my presence, though, because she turned her head towards me saying, "James, you ass-hat, how many times do I have to tell you to stay out of the bathroom when…I'm…you're not James."

"Neither are you." But I was right. She _was _hot. And she had an American accent, which was confusing but intriguing.

"Um…he's probably in his room," she said when I didn't move. It was kind of weird how calm she was. Most girls freak when you walk in on them in the shower; trust me, I know. This one was going the subtly-try-to-cover-up route. "So, uh, you can leave now."

"Oh, right. Sorry about walking in on you." My apology was offset by the smirk on my face, but I did leave the room.

0o0

"Well! Someone's been busy this summer!" I exclaimed as I barged into Prongs' room.

"Padfoot! What're you doing here? And what do you mean? And why do you have your trunk with you?" James replied as he sprang up to give me a hug.

"My parents kicked me out, so I was hoping I could stay with you."

"Of course, Pads," he said after a moment's hesitation that I pretended not to notice, "but what did you mean by being busy?"

"That American girl in your shower," I replied as we plopped back down on his bed. "I mean, don't get me wrong, she's hot, but whatever happened to sweet Lilykins?"

"There's a girl in my shower?"

"Um yeah! That's that music you hear."

"Oh. I was wondering about that. What did this girl look like?" James asked, looking like he was deep in thought.

"Really Prongs? What were you, drunk?" At this point I heard the music shut off and a door down the hall close.

"Just humor me, please."

"Oookaay. Uh, tall, skinny, long black hair, bright blue eyes…"

"Oh Merlin!" he shouted, jumping up from his bed and running down the hall.

_What the hell is going on around here?_

As I followed James down the hall, albeit a bit more slowly, I heard a screech and a yell, followed by laughter, both masculine and feminine. I reached the door in time to see Prongs pick up the hot chick and twirl her around several times before setting her back down.

"Ali! Why didn't you tell me you were getting back today?" he yelled with a smile so big I thought it'd break his face in half.

"I thought you knew!" she yelled back, her smile matching his.

_Who is this, some kind of childhood "friend"? I don't remember him saying anything about her, but she does look sort of familiar._

"How would I know? You're school doesn't end until next week, and I thought you were gonna stay in America with your boyfriend for a couple days after that. Which, don't think I've forgotten about you breaking our agreement."

_Or not._

"Um, hi, remember me? Your best friend who you just said could live with you? Who the hell is this?" I said, tired of being confused.

"So that would make you Sirius, right?" the girl said, smirking at me.

"Yes. And you are?"

"Alyssa," she replied, and then turned back to James. "I bet you really wish you could crawl in a hole and die huh?"

"Shut up." He muttered, looking supremely uncomfortable.

"Don't get mad at me, Jamie. You're the one who kept this from him, and now you get to tell him."

"Whatever," he replied brilliantly before turning towards me.

"Seriously, who is this? And why didn't you tell me about her? And what about Lily?"

"Oh right, Lily! How's she doing, it's been months since…"

"Ali!"

"Fine, I'll ask after you're done, just hurry up, I wanna hear about my friends."

"Only you would have friends at a school you don't go to, in a country you barely live in."

She only stuck her tongue out at him, so he turned around again to explain to me, finally. "Well, you see, Ali is sort of…um…well…"

"Come on Prongs, just spit it out already!" I exclaimed, my patience evaporating. I don't like not knowing what's going on.

James just kept stuttering, so the girl, Ali, I guess, stood up from her bed, walked over to me, and held out her hand. "Hi Sirius. I'm Alyssa Potter. James' twin sister."

_So that's why she looked familiar._

0o0

**Ali's POV**

Sirius stood there stuttering for a few minutes, which I didn't mind, since it gave me free reign to stare at him. I may have gone to an all-girl school all through puberty, but I still knew a hot guy when I saw one. No wonder James never let me meet this one. I mean, Remus is pretty hot, and I guess you could call Peter kind of cute, but this Sirius guy was just on his own level.

My ogling was interrupted when Sirius found his voice, even though the only thing he could say was, "How the hell?"

My dear brother was awfully busy looking guilty, so I decided to explain things to his poor, confused best mate.

"Well, see, I was _supposed _to go to Hogwarts with Jamie here, but then my parents realized that Dumbledore might not be too happy to get both of us at once. Let's just say we both love a good laugh. So our parents sent me to Beauxbatons, but it only took me like, two years to get expelled from that hellhole, so Mum and Dad sent me to an all-girl magical school in California."

"How did I not know about you?"

"James, being his normal annoying overprotective self decided not to let me meet his womanizing best friend. Well, that plan's shot to hell now, huh Jamie?" I asked, enjoying my twin brother's discomfort immensely.

"Shut up Ali. And you never explained why you're home so early." Finally, I would get to tell someone who would be excited instead of just disappointed!

"Well, first of all, Justin and I broke up, and I'm sorry I broke our agreement because he was an asshole, which brings me to my next bit of news."

I glanced at Sirius, or Padfoot, I think his nickname was, and saw his eyes darting back and forth between us.

"Which is?" James asked, getting impatient.

"Guess who finally got expelled from Muldrich's School for Witches?"

"No way! Really? How'd you do it? I thought they were really lenient."

"Well, remember how I said Justin was an asshole? I caught him cheating on me on one of our shopping weekends with some skank a year below us, so I got myself some revenge. I guess Muldrich's lenient rules don't condone making a girl's clothes invisible and charming her hat to yell 'skank' every time she tried to say something. Something about boundaries, or child pornography or whatever. I have no idea, I wasn't listening. " I finished proudly.

"Bloody hell, sis! Remind me never to piss you off." James laughed.

"Yeah, well, we _had _been going out for a year and a half. Just because I only saw him once a week didn't give him the right to cheat. But anyway, now I get to come to Hogwart's with you!"

"Yes!" he yelled as he fist pumped. Then he turned to his friend and explained, "Ali's been trying to get expelled from that school the entire time she's been there, but they have almost no rules, which is why our parents sent her there. But now she can hang out with us our entire last year at Hogwart's!"

I saw a smile starting to form on Sirius' face. I wasn't done messing with him yet, though, and James really deserved a big fight for keeping this beautiful man away from me for so long.

"Well, not the _entire _year. I have to spend some time with Lily, and if you're still annoying the hell out of her, I don't think she's gonna want to be around you. And of course I have to fit in some time with Remus and Peter!"

James face went as white as his animagus form, and I knew he'd get back at me later. But for now, I was just enjoying the drama.

"Wait, WHAT?" Sirius yelled. "She knows the other Marauders! And LILY! For Merlin's sake, Prongs, what is wrong with you?"

"Now, Padfoot, just calm down for a sec…"

"Yeah, Sirius, calm down. I mean, of course I had to get to know Lily, when James came home for the summer and she was all he could talk about. And Remus and Peter just happened to drop by when I was home during the summer after first year."

"They've known since first year! Merlin, this explains all those mysterious letters Remus is always sending, and why sometimes I'll catch you and Lily actually talking civilly! I can't believe this!"

"Oh calm down, Siri, before you have an aneurysm. Anyways, aren't Remus and Peter coming over this afternoon?"

0o0

"Moony!" I yelled loudly as I bowled into the tall lanky teenager leaning against our counter. He wrapped his arms around me to keep us both from falling and laughed at my exuberance.

"Hey there, Catscratch!"

"Ugh! How many times do I have to tell you to stop calling me that? I mean, come on, it was just once, and I barely got you!" He could _not _keep holding this over my head. And if I was going to Hogwarts this year, he just couldn't keep calling me that.

"Barely got me?" he asked incredulously. "I still have the scars, Ali."

"Okay, that was _so _not my fault."

"Whatever Catscratch." He smiled, finally letting go of me.

"Ugh! Oh, hi Wormtail. I didn't see you there." I said after catching a glimpse of him as I turned around.

"Hi Ali!" he squeaked.

"I am so confused right now," I heard a deep voice say from the doorway to the kitchen.

"Just go with it Pads, we wouldn't want your brain to explode." James responded as he pushed past Sirius to greet his friends. Sirius then proceeded to tackle them all and I decided that I would be safer up in my room for now. At least until tonight.

0o0

**Sirius' POV**

I woke up later that night to see James' silhouette looming over me and barely stopped myself from punching him in the face. I mean, really Prongs? I grew up in a houseful of Slytherins; I don't like looming shadows!

He must have somehow been able to tell that I was awake, because he whispered, "Come on, Sirius. The moon's starting to rise. Moony and Wormtail are meeting us in the woods behind the house."

I just nodded and got up to put some clothes on.

When we got outside I could feel my canine instincts starting to take over in anticipation of my change, and caught an unfamiliar and somewhat frightening scent on the edge of my senses.

I didn't have long to wonder about it, though, because Remus' transformation was underway. After a few years of seeing it monthly, it was no longer sickening, but I was still eerie and kind of scary. His entire body seemed to elongate, and while he no longer looked human, he couldn't pass for anything even closely resembling a wolf. James and Peter shifted and took off after him into the woods while I stayed behind for a moment laughing at how much it resembled a game of tag.

I was about to shift and join them when I caught that same scent again, only this time stronger. I was almost able to identify it, but it soon became unnecessary when a large black panther came around the edge of the house. It stopped short when it saw me, and the dog in me wouldn't allow me to move. So we just sat there staring at each other.

Its body was long and sleek, shining slightly in the bright moonlight, and it looked so smooth that part of me wanted to pet it. That would be crazy though, seeing as though this was a wild animal. Then the panther shook its head, as if it hadn't meant to stare at me so long, and loped off into the forest. As it turned away, I finally noticed that its eyes were a piercing shade of blue.

Taking after the panther, I shook myself from the insane train of thought, shifted, and ran into the forest. When I finally found my friends, the panther was there, too, and it was chasing after James.

Later I would realize that the chase was playful, and in no way resembled a hunt, but at that moment I just acted on instinct. I chased after the huge black cat, not registering that it shouldn't be this easy to catch, and soon found myself looking down at those eerily familiar eyes. And what was even stranger, the panther seemed to have a smile on its face.

Then I felt something nudging my side a little less than gently, and turned my big black head to see James trying to get me off the animal with what looked like panic in his eyes. The pieces began to connect sickeningly in my mind as I climbed of the cat, and if it hadn't been for Moony I would've shifted right then.

I mean, it was bad enough that James had a twin sister he didn't tell me about, and it was even worse that the other Marauders were already friends with her. But her knowing about Remus' furry little problem? That seemed like almost too much.

But then I looked around and saw that Remus was no longer in the clearing with us, so I decided to put my anger on hold to go keep him from doing something he'd regret in the morning.

0o0

"Are you _fucking _kidding me, James?" I yelled when all of us, or the Marauders, at least, were finally human again and sitting again in the clearing in the forest.

"Would you keep it down? My parents still don't know we're Animagi'" James said, trying to calm me down. It had the opposite effect.

"So you admit it! She's an animagus? How the hell could you have told her that Remus was a werewolf?" I exclaimed.

Now James was getting worked up, too, so he yelled, "Well, I couldn't exactly keep it from her! She's not stupid! What was she supposed to think when one of my friends came over every full moon during the summer? I asked Remus if I could tell her, and he not only agreed, he offered to tell her himself!" he finished, a bit too smugly for my taste.

But he had gotten his point across. Remus had never told anyone about his curse before, or so I had thought. He'd never even officially told us. We just kind of figured it out on our own. So if he trusted Ali enough to tell his deepest, darkest, secret, I guessed I had better start liking her.

And speaking of the devil…

"Hey, what's all this yelling about? You lot are going to wake Mum and Dad." Ali said as she walked into the clearing, her hair flowing uncontrollably around her face. It made her look almost wild, which was fitting, I guess.

"Oh, Sirius is just mad because you know about my furry little problem. And I personally think that he's totally jealous of your animagus form. It's _so _much cooler than his." Remus said with a…was that a wink? Hang on, was Remus…flirting?

_Who is this guy and what has he done with my best mate?_

"Oh yeah, Siri, 'cause there are so many other reasons for my brother to have his friend over every full moon…"

"That's what I said!" James interjected.

Ali rolled her eyes and continued, "And as for the jealousy thing, I _know _he is."

She and Moony both laughed as she walked over and _sat on his freaking lap!_ And James just sat there and let them.

"Um, did I miss something?" I asked, staring pointedly at the two of them.

"Oh yeah," Ali said with a wicked smile, "we've been dating for years."

"WHAT?" _Too much, too much, too much, too much…_

Then I realized that Ali and Remus were laughing, while James just rolled his eyes and shared – or at least tried to share – a look with Peter, who was staring at the ground. Finally he gave up and turned to me to say, "That's just Ali."

"If you're jealous, Pads, I'd be more than happy to sit on your lap, too." Ali smirked…must be a Potter thing.

"Don't be a slag, sis."

"Don't be an ass, bro."

"I'm sorry, when did I give you permission to call me Pads?" I interrupted.

"Jeez, I thought Remus was the one with a stick lodged permanently up his ass." Ali commented.

"Hey!" both Moony and I yelled.

"What? You know it's true." She said to Remus, whose lap she was still sitting on.

"Whatever Catscratch." He smirked in response.

"Okay," I said before another round of banter I didn't understand was launched, "I'm going to go blow my brains out now."

"Make sure you clean up afterwards, Tampon!" Ali yelled as I walked away.

The nickname made me turn back. "Excuse me?"

"Well, since I'm not allowed to call you Pads…" and then they all dissolved into laughter. Assholes.

_Dear Merlin let that nickname not catch on._

**So there it is. I'm not sure yet whether this will become a multi-chapter fic, it depends on the response I get and whether I get any more ideas for it. If I continue, I warn you that it'll probably just be shameless fluff; I'm not great with plots. Oh, and I'm not completely sure when Sirius moved in with James. The book just said that he was sixteen, so this is set in the middle of the summer after their sixth year, and Sirius is about to turn seventeen.**

**:D Anyway, let me know what you think!**

**Mel**


	2. Chapter 2

**Yay, this is pretty fast for me. Luckily I haven't seemed to develop writer's block for this story yet. Here's to hoping it won't happen! :D enjoy the chapter.**

**Ali's POV**

As I fell through the barrier, I was turning back to yell something rude at James for pushing me, and therefore didn't see the person standing in front of me until I had already plowed into them. I looked up to apologize, and then realized I knew the boy in front of me, if only through description.

"Snape." The confused look on his face threw me for a second until I realized I'd said it out loud. And of course my lovely twin brother chose that moment to plow straight through the barrier alongside Sirius, causing both of them to run into me.

"Sorry Ali, Sirius put me up to it," James laughed, not seeing the greasy haired boy staring at us oddly.

"Oi! Way to throw me under the proverbial bus, mate!" Sirius responded indignantly.

"You know you…oh, Snivellus, didn't see you there," James said, trying his best not to sneer. This confused me until I remembered his resolution to be nicer this year in an attempt to get Lily to like him.

"Potter." Snape had no such reservations, telling from the expression on his face. Then he looked at me. "Who's your girlfriend? I don't seem to recognize her."

James and I looked at each other and simultaneously let out an emphatic "Ew!"

"That's my brother, you greasy haired git!" I added, noticing how apt the nickname given to him by the Marauders had been.

"Ugh, there's been another of you running around for seventeen years? How has the world not imploded yet?"

"Careful there, Snivellus, you're in danger of being humorous. Now get out of our way before Ali decides to show you how much of a Potter she really is." Sirius smirked, and Snape stepped to the side with a mocking flourish of his hands.

0o0

"I will never understand how you were friends with that idiot for so many years, Lily. I thought you were all exaggerating." I complained as I threw myself onto the bench next to my friend.

"Oh hi Ali, how are you? Any changes in the year since I've seen you? You got expelled, oh well that sounds like a good story. I just happened to be made Head Girl, thanks for asking." She replied sarcastically.

"Sorry," I said sheepishly, "Snape was pissing me off, and you guys weren't kidding about his hair, and…wait, you're Head Girl?"

"Hey, you listened to something I said!"

"I am beyond offended by that statement, no matter how true it may be." I said loftily. "Anyways, that's awesome, and has the potential to be hilarious."

"Why?" Lily asked curiously.

"Oh hell no, I am _not _ruining that moment. Moving on, how was your summer?"

Her answer was interrupted by James throwing open our compartment door looking breathless.

"Hey, have either of you seen Remus?"

"First of all Jamie, we've been on the train for about five minutes. I know you blokes love each other, but that's a little ridiculous. Second of all, you do realize he has other friends that he talks to, right? And that he might be with them?"

"Well could you find him for me? I need to be get to the prefect meeting, but I don't want Moony to be late." He said, not even responding to my comment. Rude.

"Fine, I'll go-"

"Wait, why do you need to be at the prefect meeting?" I heard a confused voice say from beside me.

And there was the famous Potter smirk. "Well, it would probably look really bad for the Head Boy to miss the prefect meeting Evans."

"_You're _Head Boy?" The look on Lily's face was even better than I'd been hoping for.

"Yeah, why?"

"But, I'm…I mean, why?..." she sputtered.

I decided to help her out. "Well what a coincidence, because Miss Lily Evans here just happens to be our new Head Girl!" I said cheerily.

Seeing the dreamy look on Jamie's face, and the horrified one on Lily's, I figured my work here was done and pushed them both out the compartment door. "Alright you two, go on to your fancy meeting, I'll go find Moony."

0o0

I ended up finding said werewolf exactly where I predicted…with other friends. He was deep in conversation with some cute boy in Hufflepuff robes about something concerning that Voldemort fellow, so I decided to interrupt.

"Remus, darling, you're needed in the prefect car." I said dramatically as I swung my arm around his shoulders. I noticed that the boy's eyes widened slightly at the sight of me, although I didn't know for sure whether it was because of me or my proximity to Remus.

"For what exactly, love?" he replied, and I was glad that being around people he knew didn't diminish our easy banter. "I was having a perfectly good conversation with Diggory here."

"James said you were going to be late. Personally I just think he's nervous about having to look mature in front of Lily, but whatever." Then, turning my head, "You don't mind, do you Diggory?"

"Not at all. And it's Amos," he said as his eyes traveled up and down my body. Guess it was me then.

"Fine, go tell your brother I'll be there once I change into my robes, and that he's a jerk for making me go to the meeting twenty minutes early."

"Will do Moony."

"See you later Catscratch." He turned away with a smirk.

"Wait, so you're Potter's sister? The one everyone on the train's been talking about?" a voice asked behind me.

"Wow, news really does travel fast here," I replied as I turned around to face Amos. "Yeah, I'm Alyssa Potter."

"And Potter's okay with you dating his best mate?" he asked confusedly.

"What? Oh, Remus," I realized that our banter could be taken a completely different way. "We're not dating, we've just known each other for years."

"Good to know," he said as he walked away.

**Sirius' POV **

I didn't like the stares Ali was getting from everyone in the Great Hall. True, a lot of them were just curious onlookers wanting a glimpse of the mysterious Potter, but more of them were blokes wanting a look at the reportedly hot new girl. I was just hoping they'd get over the novelty of it all soon and sod off.

Of course as soon as I had the thought, the last first year was sorted and Dumbledore stood up for his speech.

"Well students, welcome back to what I hope will be another wonderful year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry!" his deep voice boomed. "I am pleased to welcome all of the first years, along with a new seventh year who still needs to be sorted. Although this will be her first year, I'm sure you are all familiar with her brother, who happens to be your Head Boy. Alyssa Potter, would you please come up to be sorted?"

Shit, I'd forgotten that she was only sitting at the Gryffindor table because she didn't know her house yet. But she was a Potter, she had to be a Gryffindor, right? Right?

"GRYFFINDOR!"

I let out a breath I was actually very aware I had been holding as Ali came back to her seat beside James. I then proceeded to tune out Dumbledore's voice listing the school rules, having heard and ignored them for the past six years and not planning on changing my pattern no matter what Prongs said. I also noticed Ali kind of carried herself like he did, though on her it looked less arrogant. She looked sort of like a princess…hmm, that could be a fitting nickname; she certainly acted like one. Another Potter trait.

"Whew, glad that's over," said princess breathed as she sat down. "Thank Merlin I was put in Gryffindor, yeah? Can you imagine if that hat had said Slytherin or something?"

"Well I'd have to disown you has my sister," James replied seriously. No pun intended…okay maybe a little intended.

"Shut up," she shoved him away playfully, pushing him into Mary MacDonald, another girl in our year.

"Hey, watch it will you-oh hey, new girl. Hi, I'm Mary. Sorry about your unfortunate luck in siblings." She said to Ali with a smile.

"I appreciate the condolences. Glad to see this berk doesn't have everyone fooled." Aw crap, girl talk. Next thing you knew they'd be talking about-

"-just love your hair, how do you get it to curl like that?" Mary was asking.

Prongs spoke up just as I was slamming my head on the table. "You know what Mary? Why don't we switch seats?"

"Thank you," I said as he sat down next to me.

"Just wait," he replied, "Lily told me that Ali was getting her dorm since she's moving to the Heads' one with me. These two are going to be dorm mates."

"Well hell, we've officially lost our awesome new pranking companion."

"I heard that Tampon. Don't worry, just because I have girlfriends doesn't mean I love you lot any less," Ali piped up in mock sympathy.

"Bite me, Princess."

"Excuse me, Princess?" she asked in shock.

"Yeah, don't you like it?" I smirked.

"Whatever Tampon," she scoffed as she turned back to Mary, who had been joined by Marlene, Alice, and Hestia.

Joy.

0o0

"Hey Tampon! Wait up!"

_Don't hit a woman, don't hit a woman, don't hit a woman._

"Yes, Catscratch?" I replied as I turned around to see Ali running down the hall towards me.

"Um, no," she laughed.

"Huh?"

"You don't get to call me that. Ever." Ali said, as if it should be obvious.

"May I ask why, new Potter?" I asked as we walked into History of Magic.

"Well first of all, I hate that nickname and barely let Remus use it. Second of all, you don't even know the story behind it." She replied as we moved towards our seats with the rest of the Marauders.

"Okay, it's either that or Princess."

"I think I'll take my chances being royalty if you don't mind. It's bad enough Moony calls me that." As Ali was saying this I noticed that Diggory fellow from Hufflepuff walking up behind her.

"Hey Alyssa." He said, tapping her on the shoulder. Wait, she knew him?

"Hey Amos." Apparently she did know him. "And it's Ali."

"Well then, Ali, I just wanted to let you know that if you ever need help with homework or have trouble adjusting to a new school, I'm always here." He winked. Who the hell winks?

"Thanks, I'll keep that in mind," Ali smiled, watching him walk away.

"How do you know Amos Diggory?" a voice asked from the seat behind us.

"Merlin, Jamie!" Ali shouted in surprise. "Give a girl some warning, yeah?"

"Sorry," his smirk said otherwise. "Now how do you know him?"

"I met him on the train, you overprotective freak. He was just saying hi."

"Actually, he was also heavily flirting. Trust me, I know the signs." I smirked. Maybe I'd been hanging around too many Potters, I was doing that a lot more lately.

"Thanks Tampon, I appreciate the help."

"Anytime Princess, anytime." I replied as she turned around to talk to her brother. I could just barely make out their whispers.

"You're such a pain in the ass, Jamie."

"I'm just trying to protect you Lyssa."

"You realize that I'm technically older than you, right? And don't even try to soften me up using that nickname. It stopped working when we hit eight."

"Age doesn't mean anything, especially just a few minutes."

"I'm also a better witch than you."

"Uncalled for, sis. And you only had better marks than me because you went to school in America."

"Fine, we'll just see at the end of this year, won't we? Now shut up, I'm trying to pay attention."

I laughed briefly at the prospect of anyone paying attention in History of Magic, then settled in for my daily nap.

0o0

**Psst. Psst. James. Jamie. PRONGS!**

**What, you idiot? And did you have to poke so hard? Now my arm hurts.**

**I'm bored, Jamie. **

Of course you're bored Padfoot, it's History of Magic.

**And stop calling me Jamie, only Ali can get away with that.**

**Well that seems extremely unfair. Did she ever have to deal with people thinking she was your lover? And thank you, Moony, for stating the obvious.**

**Actually…**

**What?**

What? And you started it, Sirius.

_Um, how did I not hear a rumor I was a part of?_

**Bite me, Moony. Oh wait…please don't. I'm too pretty to end up all scarred like you.**

Wow, feeling the love mate.

_Guys! Can we please get back to the fact that people apparently think I'm dating my BROTHER!_

Oh…

**Right. Please continue Prongsie.**

**Thank you. Anyways, it was last year, and not exactly a rumor, more like a misunderstanding. Some creepy third year was snooping around my trunk, apparently trying to steal my Quidditch jersey on a dare, and she found a picture of Ali and I from that Christmas. She then proceeded to tell her friends about my "gorgeous girlfriend." **

_I think I just threw up in my mouth a little bit._

_I second that. I hope you cleared it up, James._

**Of course I did, that's disgusting. And Lily, you know if you would just go out with me, things like this wouldn't happen.**

_Shove off, I'm not having this conversation on a note._

**Oh, so it's a conversation now? Well that's a step up from outright refusal. What exactly have you two been doing in that Heads dormitory?**

_I repeat, shove off. The only reason I joined this note was because Binns is being especially dull today._

Hey, why isn't anyone passing the note to me.

**First of all, I don't think this can be called a note anymore.**

I agree. More like a correspondence now.

**Thank you, Moony. And second of all Wormtail, you never have anything interesting to say.**

**Don't be a prat, Padfoot.**

_Yeah, apologize Sirius._

Thanks Lily, but it's fine. One of us should probably be taking notes anyway.

**Aw come on! I'm joking. Ali, can you please teach Peter how to take a joke?**

_Sorry, one mountain at a time and all that. I'm still busy trying to get that stick out of Moony's ass._

**Kinky.**

**Gross, mate, that's my sister.**

**Sorry, I thought you were too busy talking to Lilykins over there.**

_Never call me that again, Tampon._

**Dammit Ali!**

_This conversation is officially insane. And we're almost out of room on this parchment._

**Yay I get the last space on the parchment! I rule all! I am the master of the universe! I'm**

_An idiot because I have smaller handwriting than you._

0o0

"So Ali, are you going to take advantage of the fact that James is Quidditch captain this year?" Peter asked on our way to the Great Hall for dinner.

"Not in a million years." She replied with a shake of her head.

"What, you can't fly? How did James let that happen?" I asked.

"Misogynistic much? And I have no idea if I'm a good flyer. I'm afraid of heights."

"I repeat, how did that happen?"

"Actually, it was my fault." James said as we sat down at the Gryffindor table.

"You bet your ass it was," then she turned towards Remus and me. "This idiot pushed me off a broom when we were seven."

"That's what put you off heights? Those kiddie brooms only go three feet in the air." Remus said.

"I'm sorry, when did I say kiddie broom? I said broom, as in we snuck our parents' out of the shed in the middle of the night and got into a fight twenty feet in the air. I broke my arm and got a concussion."

"And I said I was sorry and was your personal slave for the rest of the summer. Merlin, let it go." James cut in, rolling his eyes.

"Bite me Jamie. That's all I have to say."

"The world would be such a better place if that really were _all _you were going to say." James replied.

Ali, being the mature adult she is, responded by sticking her tongue out at him.

"Well that's attractive," Remus said.

"You bet your ass it is, Moony. We all know you're secretly mooning over me-wow I didn't even plan that one."

"Brilliant, Ali," Remus laughed. "And of course I am, who wouldn't be?" he smiled as he slung his arm around her shoulders. Forget Prongs and his "that's just Ali" bull. Not even I flirted that much with someone I didn't like. Now I just had to figure out why that bothered me so much to realize.

0o0

**Ali's POV**

"Anyone else starving?" I asked as I stared at the ceiling above my bed.

"Ali, we just dinner a few hours ago." Hestia laughed, along with the rest of my roommates. I had decided that I liked all of them, which was good since we'd be around each other a lot.

Hestia Jones was average height with straight brown hair whose manageability I envied and eyes that seemed unable to decide whether they were brown or green. She seemed really sweet from what I'd seen so far, and was constantly laughing at something.

Alice Prewett was short and curvy, with black hair that stopped well above her shoulders. On anyone else it might have looked horrid, but she managed to pull it off. She apparently had a fiancé named Frank who was a year ahead of her, and her light grey eyes lit up whenever he came up in conversation-which, as you can guess, was a lot.

Marlene McKinnon was tall and had blonde hair that was always in a ponytail, a habit born from the fact that she was on the house Quidditch team. She played chaser with James, so even though I'd never met her, I'd heard plenty of stories about what an amazing player she was. She had forest green eyes that always seemed to be looking straight through you, and I could tell she'd be the one to vent to about anything and everything this year.

Lastly was Mary, who I actually felt like I already knew pretty well. Not just from our conversation at dinner, but from the fact that she had been included in most of Remus' letters to me. I could easily see why he liked her: she had bright blue eyes that even I was jealous of, and long wavy red hair that looked to be a few shades darker than Lily's. From what I'd seen so far, she completely returned his feelings.

"Yeah, and now I'm hungry again," I said as they stopped laughing. "Anyone want to come down to the kitchens with me?"

"Ali, it's almost midnight." This time it was Alice who spoke up.

"Yeah, what's your point? It's not like I'll get caught. Jamie's taught me everything he knows about this old place." Not to mention that it was my turn with the invisibility cloak. Since we went to the same school now, we were trading off once a week.

"Fine, just as long as you don't get in trouble. But we're not going with you." Hestia said.

As I walked out the door, Marlene said, "Hey, while you're there you should get some chocolate cake for me." I waved my hand in acknowledgement as the rest of the girls added their requests.

0o0

It was easy enough to get to the kitchens unnoticed, and the house elves were more than willing to help me out. I had just finished putting everyone's food in a bag I'd charmed and had sat down to eat some treacle tart when the door opened. I panicked until I realized that it was just Sirius.

Of course, he being Sirius, he immediately dropped the piece of parchment he was carrying and let out a loud curse.

"Princess?"

"In the flesh. Your roommates send you out for food, too?" I asked as he stood there in shock.

"How do you know where the kitchens are?" he finally asked.

I gave him a look. "Have you forgotten who my brother is?"

"Right, well then, I'll just-"

"Calm down Tampon, I'm just finishing up getting some food. I'll be out of your hair once I finish my tart." I smiled as he sat down next to me, waving hello to a few house elves in the process.

"You don't have to, it was just a shock to see you."

"Good shock, or bad shock?" I asked, not really knowing why I wanted to know the answer.

"I don't know yet." Pretty sure we weren't talking about the kitchens anymore.

"So, have you gotten used to James having a secret twin sister yet?" I asked in the following silence as the elves gathered what was apparently a pretty regular order of food for the Marauders.

"Yeah, speaking of which, why did you guys keep that a secret anyways?" he asked.

"Honestly?"

"No, I want you to lie to me."

"Shut up, prick. We didn't really mean to. At first he just wanted someone that was separate from me, since we usually had all the same friends. Then as you guys became closer it just got harder and harder to tell you. Remus and Peter found out purely by accident, and Lily was my fault. I really wanted to piss Jamie off.

Then we got older and he realized that we were both pretty-flirtatious, I guess is the polite way of putting it. He didn't want to risk losing you if something happened between us."

He nodded as he digested that. "And now that you've met me, do you think he was right to be concerned?" Sirius looked adorable as he watched me from under the fringe of black hair covering his forehead.

"I don't know yet," I echoed his words from earlier.

There was a moment of charged silence, then, "Where did the name Catscratch come from anyway?"

"Ugh," I laughed, "I'd hoped you'd never ask."

"Come on, it can't be that bad." By this point we both had our food and were leaving the kitchen after a brief goodbye to the house elves.

"Well it wasn't _terrible_. The summer after you lot became Animagi, James was teaching me how to do it, and one day Remus came over to see how I was doing. Of course he didn't know what my form was going to be, so he stood too close to me, and I couldn't see since my eyes were closed. I changed, he was in the way, I ended up ripping his face open." I shrugged as I finished the story.

"So that's where those scars came from!" he exclaimed. "I was freaking out at the beginning of that term because I couldn't remember him getting them at any of the full moons. He wouldn't tell me where they came from."

"Yeah, well, that was me," I said sheepishly. "I felt so bad I wouldn't write back to him for a month. He finally had to come over and tell me that it was fine, he'd had worse. I still feel kind of bad."

By now we were at the portrait hole and to my surprise, Sirius put his arm around me as we went through.

"You don't have to feel bad, Princess," when he said it like that it sounded more endearing than antagonistic. "He really has had worse, and the fact that it happened while you were doing something that would help him means that he forgave you as soon as it happened. Trust me, I know from experience."

"How?" I asked, curious now, as we stood at the bottom of the staircase to the girls' dorms.

"Another day." He replied as he turned to go to his own dorm.

"Hey Sirius?"

"Yeah Ali?"

"Thanks."

"Goodnight Princess."

**So there's chapter 2. It's longer than I thought it's be, and I hope it's good. If it's not then sorry. :D please review, and let me know if you found the 'Friends' reference.**

**Mel**


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